diff --git a/src/sbbs3/scfg/scfg.c b/src/sbbs3/scfg/scfg.c
index 17d608e51304f0066c3e1e142d9b3221167e93d8..ffcd6f6719a01021d68451618b46b4f5c4a96ee2 100644
--- a/src/sbbs3/scfg/scfg.c
+++ b/src/sbbs3/scfg/scfg.c
@@ -164,10 +164,13 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv)
             SAFECOPY(cfg.ctrl_dir,argv[i]);
     }
 
-if(backup_level>10) backup_level=10;
-
 backslashcolon(cfg.ctrl_dir);
 
+if(chdir(cfg.ctrl_dir)!=0) {
+	printf("!ERROR %d changing current directory to: %s\n",cfg.ctrl_dir);
+	exit(-1);
+}
+
 uifc.size=sizeof(uifc);
 #if defined(USE_DIALOG)
 if(!door_mode)